Stress Management Tips for the Visionary

As a Visionary, you’ve got no use for clichéd stress busters. If you wanted to take a bubble bath or call a friend, you’d already have done it. Here are a few techniques that are more on your level.

Go Solo
You absorb information quickly, are rational and logical, and can be very inventive in your problem solving. So when you’re tense, the last thing you need is other people’s banal advice clouding your thought process. Instead, grab some alone-time—whether you take a walk, get coffee or just hide in the conference room—and do what you do best: Analyze the situation and come up with your own enterprising solution.

Use Technology
If it’s innovative, you’re intrigued. Use the smartphone in your hand to try out high-tech stress-busters, from the Naturespace app that pipes in the sounds of songbirds, rain and more, to the Kick the Boss app—choose your weapon and beat the on-screen boss silly. Then there’s an ibiofeedback app that allows you to record and modulate your heartbeat, and a Brainwave Tuner app that optimizes brain wave frequency to relax body and mind. Have cell phone, will chill.

Play a Game
It’s not just for slackers anymore. Playing nonviolent video games can actually lower stress and boost mood, according to researchers at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. It’s the distraction—getting completely, wholly absorbed in a benign pursuit—that takes you out of stress mode and actually cools the nervous system. Choose a game that’s challenging without being tense.

Keep Dreaming
You dream big! You live in a world of possibilities and get excited about new concepts. But while you have a clear vision of your desired outcome, you can be a little hazy on how it’s actually going to happen. When challenges arise, don’t despair! Team up with a details person to help work out the kinks while you continue to see the big picture. As Yoda says, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”